Party platforms present stark differences

Party platforms aren't binding on any candidate, but they can be revealing about the overall agenda and direction of a political party. This year's national Democratic and Republican platforms are particularly instructive.

The Democratic platform proposes further economic stimulus by investment in bridges, roads, water systems, public transit, an improved power grid, green energy, expanded high-speed and net neutral broadband and a plan for debt-free college.

This is paid for by: a "claw back" of tax breaks for companies that shift jobs overseas, a crackdown on inversions that help profitable corporations avoid taxes, closing loopholes exploited by hedge fund managers, establishing a millionaire surtax and creating a "financial transactions tax on Wall Street to curb excessive speculation and high-frequency trading, which has destroyed financial markets."

These steps would help reverse a 40-year trend of shifting the overall tax burden from corporations and the wealthy to the middle class.

The Republican platform, by contrast, is an unappealing sequel, Trickle Down III. The first time we tried this, it blew up the debt. The second time we added Wall Street deregulation and cratered the global economy. This time the platform vaguely calls for reduced taxes, especially corporate taxes. It also muses about a national sales tax replacing all income taxes.

The details that standard bearer Donald Trump has put out reveal the flaws. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget analyzed the latest Trump tax plan, the one unveiled in Detroit and geared toward cutting taxes for corporations and the wealthy. The non-partisan group calculated the Trump plan would add $2.5 trillion in debt over the next decade — roughly 10 times higher than the calculated debt effect of Hillary Clinton's plans.

Sometimes party platforms offer direct comparisons. The Democratic Party takes climate change seriously, sets clean energy goals, opposes the Keystone XL pipeline and seeks strict limits on fracking. The Republican platform downplays the threat of climate change and wrote, "The United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is a political mechanism, not an unbiased scientific institution." For the record, the IPCC is a global collaborative of accomplished scientists; it was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 for its work on climate change.

The Republicans see no need for a federal minimum wage at all. The Democratic platform calls for a $15 an hour minimum wage. The Democrats also seek stricter enforcement of antitrust laws and a crackdown on anti-competitive practices. The Democratic platform also calls for "extending the statute of limitations for prosecuting major financial fraud."

The Democratic platform also supports paid family and medical leave, a public option in one's health insurance and the president's plan for expanded overtime pay.

The Republican platform wants to strip all public health funds from Planned Parenthood, and speaks approvingly of Texas' draconian anti-clinic provisions.The GOP platform also opposes marriage equality, and approves of state laws discriminating against transgender people or couching discrimination against gays in religious terms. It picks up the coded language of those pushing discredited "gay conversion" therapies, and pushes failed abstinence-only sex education.